Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts is largely considered the site where the first Colonists arrived in the New World. This initial boatload of settlers was known as Pilgrims. Massachusetts otherwise is most well known as a key hotbed of Colonial dissension before and during the Revolutionary War. One of the most famous incidents leading up to the war takes a Massachusetts place name: the Boston Tea Party. But key figures were Massachusetts residents and politicians. Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock were key figures in the movement toward independence from the British Crown. Modern day Massachusetts politicians are the Kennedys. JFK was perhaps on the brink of an innovative Presidency when he was assassinated. Brother Robert was an outspoken politician, also cut down in the prime of his career as a Massachusetts lawmaker and politician. Ted Kennedy was elected as Massachusetts Senator in 1962, one year before his bother JFK was killed.

Following a long history of social activism, Massachusetts paved the way for Gay Rights in 2004 when it voted to make gay marriage legal, a first in the U.S. However the current state of this issue could change; it remains a political hot button issue.

During the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries, when immigrants were streaming into America, huge communities of Irish immigrants set up residence in Massachusetts. Irish Americans in Massachusetts far outnumber those in other states.

The Church of Christ, Science considers Boston home. The Church—a large modern building in downtown Boston—beckons not only Christ Scientists, but also thousands of tourists. Another popular tourist attraction is Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge Massachusetts. This is a recreation of a Colonial working village. Visitors may see how a small town worked over 300 years ago.